Amidst escalating race and sportsmanship rows with India, Australian batting star Michael Hussey has defended skipper Ricky Ponting against calls for his scalp, saying he had the support of his entire team.

Hussey also said the Australian team had nothing to apologise for, maintaining the now-threatened series had been played in a hard but fair spirit despite India’s threats to go home unless spinner Harbhajan Singh’s three-match ban for racial sledging is overturned on appeal.

Hussey, whose second Test century in Sydney has been almost forgotten amid the controversy, said he was “shocked” by Indian captain Anil Kumble’s assertion that only one team was playing in the spirit of cricket.

“That was a surprising comment and a little disappointing,” Hussey told reporters yesterday at the Sydney Cricket Ground, where he was filming a cricket-based Bollywood movie.

“The spirit has been fantastic for the first two Tests, and not just that, for the 60 years we have been playing Test cricket against India. The two teams actually get on very well; it has been absolutely brilliant.

“That’s why I’ve been shocked (by Kumble’s remarks). There have been a lot of contentious decisions, but you’ve got to accept the umpire’s decision. It takes discipline to do that without showing any dissent,” he said.

On calls in the media for Ponting’s resignation, Hussey said “All I can say is Ricky has got the full support of everyone in our team and probably every cricketer around Australia.

“I think he is the best captain I have played under. We go out to play the game as hard as we can but also as fairly as we can, and Ricky is very big on that,” he was quoted as saying in the Daily Telegraph.

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